“They laughed when I said I wanted to start a dog magazine “

But when I turned up on national television!~

Elliot had just finished his talk. He told the class he wanted to become a scientist. The room quietly listened to him tell of his hopes and dreams to follow his father in to the field of chemical production. I braced myself. I had tried to weigh up whether I should even tell the truth. Oh well. Here goes…

“I love dogs. I want to work with dogs. When I leave school, I want to become a dog trainer.”

They laughed.

“A dog trainer? That’s hardly a job, is it!”

I decided to expand.

“When I was speaking to my parents about career choices, they asked me; what are you passionate about? What do you enjoy more than anything in the world?”

My answer, of course, was dogs.

That threw them off course.

“Dogs? We don’t even have a dog!”

I knew that. I was painfully aware of that.

Ever since I was born I have felt a connection with dogs. Whenever I’d meet a dog, I was happy. If I visited someone’s house, a family friend perhaps, if they had a dog, I was set for the day. I couldn’t explain it then, can’t explain it now but my passion for dogs is, I believe, ingrained.

When I told my classmates I wanted to work with dogs for a career, they laughed. But when I turned 16, the day I was legally old enough to leave school and get a full time job, I landed a job……as a dog trainer!

Yes, you read that right. On THE DAY I left school I got my dream job.

It was waiting for me in a newspaper ad, just tucked away in the corner of the classifieds section.

I practically begged to get that job.

By now, I had got my longed for dog. His name was Jackson and he changed my life.

Jackson: Enjoying the finer things in life!

Jackson was all I had as a portfolio. He was my job interview. He got me the job.

I loved every second of every day as a dog trainer. So often people’s dream jobs turn out to be a disappointing reality. Not mine. It was magical.

When I said I wanted to launch a dog magazine, I heard the same laughter that had echoed around the classroom when I’d announced my plans to become a dog trainer earlier in life.

“A dog magazine? Why on earth would you want to do that!” ~ I’d hear this a lot.

I can answer the question now as clearly as I could back then.

I wanted to launch a dog magazine that I would be thrilled to read.

Yes, I’ll say it again. I launched K9 Magazine because I wanted to read it myself.

Happily, as it has turned out, I wasn’t the only one!

Hundreds of thousands of dog owners from all over the world have shared in my passion for dogs through the pages of K9 Magazine.

If you’re like me, your dog is more than just a passing interest. If you’re like me, you’re dog is a major part of your life. Family. Truly, family.

I have a theory about dogs. If you spare me a few seconds, I’ll explain it:

We don’t understand dogs yet.
We think we do, but we don’t.

THINK ABOUT THIS; when man domesticated the dog some 15,000 years ago – the dog won him over with his adaptability, his loyalty, his usefulness, his disposition, his companionship, his ability to evoke in us emotions of deep, deep friendship – yes, friendship…with an animal. The dog hasn’t changed that much. We have!

Humans and dogs connect. Man’s best friend didn’t earn his title by accident!

As amazing as dogs are, we still haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what they are actually capable of.

If you’d have said to my great, great, great, great, great parents (i.e not THAT long ago) that we would routinely see blind people being lead by dogs, or disabled people having their lives enhanced thanks to assistance dogs, or dogs who could detect cancer, dogs who could detect earthquakes, seizures, bombs, drugs….the list goes on, they would have no doubt struggled to believe you. How far fetched! Dogs leading blind people? Dogs helping disabled people? Dogs detecting cancer?? – Maybe, just maybe, they’d have even laughed at you.

Yet all of these ‘skills’ the dog has not suddenly developed as a result of some accelerated evolutionary process.. He’s – by and large – the same animal he was 15,000 years ago. He has a leg on each corner, two ears, two eyes, a nose and a tail. He’s the same.

So what’s changed?

Us.

We changed.

We have learned how to connect with the dog to such a degree that we are constantly uncovering the depths and usefulness of their hidden abilities. They will show us a new piece of canine magic once in a while and we….us….we have to learn how to harness it, understand it and work with it.

It is only if we continue the quest to learn about them (and from them) that we will ever get close to understanding the dog. We assume we know them. We assume we’ve got a great understanding of them and the depth of their capabilities, yet cancer detection dogs, guide dogs, assistance dogs….they’re relatively recent canine adaptations.

Our dogs have been capable of performing these amazing acts all along. The only difference is that we’re now actively seeking to tap their potential – oh, and let’s not forget that ever so important little talent they have…..being incredibly intuitive and helping us by simply being, well, a dog!

Question: Do you believe, for a single second, that we’ve even scratched the surface of learning all there is to know about the dog?

I don’t!

In fact, I’m 100% sure of it.

The dog has got so, so much more to show us and I for one, want to know about it. I want my time on this earth to be punctuated by getting a greater, deeper, better understanding of the animal that has been such an integral part of my life.

I want to be a better dog owner.

I want to know more.

I want to be able to tell other dog owners about the things I’ve learned.

I want to discover things about dogs that I didn’t know.

I want to know about other people’s dogs.

I want to know more about canine health.

I want to know about canine nutrition.

I want to know about dog learning and psychology.

I want to hear from dog experts and ordinary dog owners.

I want to know about innovative and interesting dog products.

I want to watch dog videos.

I want to be entertained, amused, titillated by the funny things dogs do.

I want to be just half the person my dog thinks I am.

K9 Magazine helps me in this quest.

K9 Magazine is for the inquisitive dog owner.

K9 Magazine is for the dog lover who wants to know more. Who wants to have the BEST relationship with their dog by better understanding them. By speculating about the future. By understanding the present. K9 Magazine is, I hope and believe, for dog owners like you!

They laughed when I said I wanted to start a dog magazine.

But K9 Magazine is the magazine I want to read. K9 Magazine is the magazine I get a kick out of.

WATCH THE VIDEO: To see just a tiny selection of K9 Magazine on TV

People don’t tend to laugh now.

They don’t tend to laugh because K9 Magazine is not only featured regularly on international television, in national newspapers and on the radio but it’s also spoken about it glowing terms by its many thousands of happy readers and even the odd celebrity fan! More than that though, people don’t tend to laugh any more because they can see, like me, that dog owners are passionate about learning, becoming better, understanding more and enhancing their relationships with their dogs.

What they’re saying about K9 Magazine:

Wow! Everything I wanted and more. I’m blown away that you guys actually ‘get it’. You understand what I want to read and don’t talk down to me about dogs. You’ve nailed it. I LOVE K9 Magazine!
~ Kelly Hayman

I just wanted to let you know I read my first copy of K9 Magazine this morning. One question, where have you been all my life??? Perfect.
~ Jude Hawa.

Hey kind editor,

In the few months I’ve been reading your newsletters I am completely convinced that you’ve got the most top notch publication out there, from every angle. And it’s cheap at twice the price! (Don’t tell anyone I said that.) At first I was a little put off by the cute model/actress/barista types on the cover, but there’s so much solid science in the mag that it’s impossible to pass up, and I’ve gone ahead and subscribed.

I don’t know how you do it, but I’m impressed by you all – 100%. And thank you for the personal email.

As I’ve mentioned, solid science is most interesting to me, specifically behavior and training methods by the experts. I believe rehoming is an important issue these days of economic hardship. Coming up with creative ways to support shelters, too.

Thanks for asking!
~ Christine Blint

Dear Ryan

Thank you for you article ref ‘shelter dogs’. I must say it’s a long time since I have seen something with so much truth, well done.
~ Phillip Hingle, Watchdogs Ltd

I have started getting K9 Magazine. It is fabulous! Great stories, visuals, everything! It has got to be one of the best dog magazines out there! You deal with some strong issues and it doesn’t have the feel of a fashion magazine with dogs (unlike some mags I could name). Love it!

Best barks!
~ Joy Ward (author of Haint)

I’ve been proud to take the cover of K9 Magazine with my gorgeous canine babies.

It’s a bit different to the other magazine and one of the reasons I’ve always liked is that it has a more lifestyle, modern edge.

With the changes ahead, we look forward to our next cover!
~Caprice, entrepreneur and TV personality.

“My copy of K9 has replaced my usual choice of mag! I get my gossip,fashion and lifestyle tips for both me and my bulldog Matilda, all within one cover!”
~ BBC Radio London presenter Jo Good

We changed our guarantee policy for a couple of reasons.

(1) Less than 0.03% of ALL subscribers (since 2001) have ever ask for a refund (sadly, the main reason for this is due to a family dog passing away) – having such a tiny number of complete refunds keeps our money-men happy, enabling us to extend the lifetime guarantee offer 🙂

(2) We recognise the enormous positive impact that K9 Magazine has had on so many dog owners, so we want to 100% completely eliminate ANY risk that anyone may feel when weighing up whether to join us.

Finally, you really don’t have much cause to focus on refunds when your FREE membership package contains as many benefits as this……….

Pet Product Reviews: Exclusive first look at latest pet products and services to hit the market. Hear about them first and watch pet product review videos conducted by us and our readers (you could even become a pet product tester yourself!)

Ticket Discounts for Pet Events: No matter where you are in the world, K9 Magazine is regularly able to offer discounts and promotions for dog and pet related events

Pet Product Reviews: Exclusive first look at latest pet products and services to hit the market. Hear about them first!

The Popularity Problem

The K9 Magazine Premier club has proven to be more popular than we could have ever imagined. Our first and most important commitment is to providing a high quality of service to our members – nothing competes with this importance of this mission. In order to deliver the finest quality service to our members we do need to control the influx of new members. In order to achieve this aim we have to review the membership fee for new members on a near daily basis – at present we can manage membership sign ups of around 200 new members per day. Our latest membership fee review saw the joining fee frozen, so you can beat the price rise if you’re quick

Your satisfaction – our guarantee!

“If, for any reason, you do not love your K9 Magazine membership as much as we think you will, simply let us know (a short email will suffice) and we will refund your membership fee, no questions asked, no strings attached.”